My musings, reflections on life here in Shiloh, Israel. Original, personal, spiritual and political. Peace, security and Israeli sovereignty. While not a "group blog," Shiloh Musings includes the voices of other Jews in The Land of Israel.
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“The next day Pilate took his
seat on the tribunal in the great stadium
and summoned the mob, on the pretext
that he was ready to give them answer.

Instead, he gave a pre-arranged signal to the soldiers to surround the
Jews in full armor, and the troops formed a ring three [Roman soldiers] deep. The Jews were dumbfounded at the unexpected
sight, but Pilate, declared that he would cut them to pieces unless they
accepted images of Caesar, nodded to their soldiers to bare [reveal] their
swords.

At this the Jews, as though by agreement, fell to the ground in a body
and bent their necks, shouting that they were ready to be killed, rather than
transgress the Law [of the Torah].

Amazed at the intensity of their religious fervor, Pilate ordered the
standards to be removed from Jerusalem forthwith.”

SOURCE:The Jewish War (chapter 7, bottom of page 138) by
Flavius Josephus, translated by G.A. Williamson, 1984, published by Penguin
Classics, ISBN:0140444203 ISBN: 978-0140444209
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“…Domitian [the Emperor of Rome from year 81 to 96 CE. He was the
younger brother of Titus and son of Vespasian] was becoming more and more of a
tyrant as his reign proceeded, hostile to converts to Judaism for their refusal
to participate in the worship which he as a living emperor demanded…”

____________________________________________________________“At this time the people of
Damascus, learning of the destruction of the Roman force, were eager to
exterminate the Jews in their midst.As
they had them cooped in the gymnasium for a long time now, taking this
precaution as a result of suspicion, the task appeared perfectly simple: but
they were afraid of their own wives, who had almost all gone over to the Jewish
religion, so that their chief anxiety was to keep them in the dark.”